News

IMPORTANT! ANT SPRAY RESCHEDULED
Due to an illness, our next ant spray has been rescheduled to Thursday, July 10. Members are not permitted to enter the club during the entire morning. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

NEXT SUMMER BBQ JULY 22
We’re doing it again! Our next summer BBQ is next Tuesday, July 22 at 7 pm! Join us at the club for a free dinner and some lake fun. If you are able to volunteer, please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

SUMMER REGATTA COMING UP
All sailors! Please join us for a one-day regatta on August 3! Here’s where to register. We will need volunteers. Please contact Dan Borg at 416-254-8882 if you can help out.

HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE SALTO APP?
You are not alone! We’ve discovered that the Salto device doesn’t work well with phones in MagSafe cases. If you are using one of these, please tap your phone screen (not the back of the case) to the device or remove your phone from its case. This should enable the device to find your digital key more easily.

DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A BACKHOE OR DIGGER?
If so, please get in touch with groundsrat@waterrats.ca. There’s a project you may be able to help us out with.

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news. 

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here. 

REMINDER: FIRST BBQ JUNE 24
Calling all members! Our first summer BBQ is next Tuesday! Join us at the club for a free dinner and some lake fun. If you can volunteer please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca. 

PLEASE CUT THE GRASS UNDER YOUR BOATS
A reminder to all sailors to cut the grass under your boats. Also make sure your trailer tires are not flat. This helps us keep the property looking clean and tidy, especially with our lease renewal coming up! 

We are also seeking a volunteer to clean up the grass under the paddle racks. We have a club weed wacker. Please contact paddlerat@waterrats.ca to arrange.

DO YOU HAVE RECEIPTS TO SUBMIT?
All board members have new email addresses. Get in touch with Gord at moneyrat@waterrats.ca. Moving forward, requests will only be accepted through this address.

WE HAVE ROOM FOR MORE LASERS!
We’d love to recruit more active sailors for the club. Do you have friends who love to sail and have their own boat? Share the word with them!

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news. 

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: WATER RATS CLOSED TUESDAY JUNE 3 AM

It's that time of year again. We have booked our annual fire ant spraying on Tuesday June 3 and Tuesday July 8 from 9 am to 12 pm. The club will be closed during this time.

Sorry folks, as Tuesday appears to be a lovely day! Hope the weather holds out until noon for us!!

Summer weather is (finally) here!

It's time to get out on the water! Here are some upcoming social events. We hope to see you there!

Outer Harbour Sailing Federation Club Crawl

Join us this Saturday at 5:30 for a pirate club crawl along our Outer Harbour clubs. The fun starts at the windsurfing club, but feel free to join us anytime. Tickets are available on our website. You'll be given a wristband which must be worn at the event.

We also need a few more volunteers who are able to help out for the Water Rats portion at 5:30. Please contact Shona (paddlerat@waterrats.ca) if you are able to help out. 

Heinz Gebrauer Spring War

Saiilors! Our first regatta happens on June 7! Have you purchased your tickets yet? Find out more about the event here.  

All sailors!

A reminder to please put air in your trailer tires and maintain your boat. This will help us maintain the property.

Save the date for our first club BBQ

It's happening on June 24! See you there!

Submit your hours
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

Missing a newsletter?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news. 

Don't miss a club event
View our calendar here. 

WELCOME BACK TO THE WATER!!!

REMINDER: CLUB CRAWL COMING UP MAY 31
Calling all members! Curious about the other clubs that share our space along Regatta Road? Now is your chance to make some new friends.

Our annual club crawl is May 31 and if you buy before May 20, tickets are only $20. Purchase them here. Food, music and fun included!

HEINZ GEBAUER SPRING WAR REGATTA 2025: JUNE 7 Sailors, have you registered for our first 2025 regatta yet? Tickets are $50 for a whole weekend of sailing! Sign up to participate now.

We’ll also need 2 volunteers to help out on the Saturday BBQ. Please contact racerat@waterrats.ca for more information.

ARE YOU GOOD AT WOODWORKING?
We are seeking a couple of volunteers for a few small projects. Please contact body@waterrats.ca for more information.

SAVE THE DATE! FIRST CLUB BBQ IS JUNE 24!
We will be calling out for volunteers soon! It’s free! Enjoy some food and good company!

JOIN THE MEGA CLEAN
Saturday mornings:  May 31 and July 12  Time: 9:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Cherry Beach & Tommy Thompson Park Shoreline Cleanup is partnering with Don’t Mess with the Don for waterway clean up too! 

Water Rats club member Anna Hoad is representing Toronto Nature Stewards now so we thought it would be great to have a bold event that connects the outer harbour areas to take action on litter.  

If anyone wants to join the shoreline clean up they are welcome to; either land based or in their own kayak or canoe.

CAT RACING AND SOCIAL AT JTOWN: MAY 18
Please join us for the first cat race practice of the year on May 18 at 3 PM on land at St. James Town Sailing Club or on the water in the Harbour!

A sausage(upwind/downwind) course will be set in the area, depending on the direction of the wind, between TMCC and Eastern Gap. There is no sign up (drop-ins are welcome) and we do not keep score.

The session is kicked off with a sailors' meeting and an on-land briefing at St. James Town Sailing Club. It continues on the water in the Harbour between 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM, and is wrapped up with a social debrief on land at St. James Town Sailing Club around 6 PM. Please bring a race watch and BYOB! 

This is a voluntary, community driven race practice session, built by our cat sailing friends at St. James Town Sailing Club and Westwood Sailing Club. St. James Town Sailing Club will be setting the course this time. If you are interested in volunteering and setting the course for future race practice sessions, taking place every other Sunday, please contact Beata Sejane at cat@sailtoronto.com.

For more info on these bi-weekly sessions please click here.

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news. 

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here. 

It's almost time to get out on the water!

REMINDER: SPRING CLEANUP ON SATURDAY

The weather is looking good for our spring cleanup on Saturday, April 26 (rain date is April 27) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves and water bottles.

We still need some volunteers for lunch prep. Contact Mike (mike.gurski@gmail.com) in advance if you can help. 

We also need people with wetsuits to enter the water to help launch the boat and the lift. Please contact Garvie (kgbrown100@gmail.com). 

Join us for this event on Saturday, June 7. Register here. Stay tuned for a volunteer announcement. 

SAVE THE DATE: OHSF PUB CRAWL

Our OHSF pub crawl will be on Saturday, May 31. It’s a fun event and we’ll make an announcement when tickets are available. 

AND DON’T FORGET…

Submit your volunteer hours at the end of your cleanup day participation. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news. 

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?

View our calendar here. 

JOIN US FOR SPRING CLEANUP ON APRIL 26

It's time for our spring clean-up! Join us on Saturday, April 26 (the rain date will be April 27) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves and water bottles.

Check with Mike (mike.gurski@gmail.com) at the clubhouse for priority tasks. If you have sanders and painting equipment please bring them.

We need 3-4 people with wet suits to go into the water to help launch the boat. Please contact Mike to arrange.

We also need 10 volunteers for lunch prep. (1 to get groceries, 2 for kitchen prep, 3 to run the BBQ and 4 for clean up). Contact Mike in advance if you can help. 

SUP SPOTS AT WESTWOOD

Westwood Sailing Clue has 2 spots open for SUP boards 11 feet or less (hard or inflatable). The cost is $325 a year. Please contact Shona if interested (paddlerat@waterrats.ca)

UPCOMING EVENT

Join us for the Heinz Gebauer Spring WAR Regatta 2025 on June 7. Register here.

IS THIS YOUR BOAT?

(See photo here)

Please contact Shona (paddlerat@waterrats.ca) ASAP
HR Rack #3 Arm #6  Boat # 1441

This is NOT your Assigned Rack. This boat must to be moved on or before spring clean up or we will need to cut your lock.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Submit your volunteer hours at the end of cleanup day participation. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news. 

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here. 

Membership Survey

The board is committed to continually improving the member experience at Water Rats. To help us understand the areas for improvement and where we're doing well, we'd like to invite you to participate in an anonymous survey. You'll have the opportunity to rate the club in various areas and provide feedback and overall comments. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.

Rule Change

We continue to experience issues with boats appearing at the club without obtaining stickers. As a reminder, members are only permitted to store the boats listed in their profile. It creates a lot of unnecessary volunteer work to determine the owners of these boats, and a result the executive has decided to apply a fine in cases where boats are brought to the club and not registered. Rule 12 has been changed as follows (change in italics).

12. Club stickers must be affixed to all boats and trailers kept at WRSC. Failure to affix current stickers may result in a member’s boat or trailer being removed from the Club. If a member changes or brings a new boat or trailer to the Club, new stickers must be obtained from the Membership Rat or other member of the Executive before bringing the boat or trailer to the Club. Any boats found at the club without a sticker, or where the sticker is not registered to any member, will be subject to a fine of $100. 

Unidentified Boats

There are a few unidentified boats at the club. If one of them belongs to you, could you please contact the Membership Rat. Given that these boats arrived at the club before the rule change, we will not be applying the fine.

Floating Dock

Many of you might have noticed a large dock washed up on the beach of our club.The Port Authority has been notified and they will return to sort out its removal!

Enjoy the winter! Less then four months until we're back on the water!

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Don’t miss out! The weather outside may be frightful, but our holiday party will certainly be delightful!

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

We’d like to collect some photos to create a slideshow at the meeting. Please send your favourite moments at Water Rats to Roy. Or just upload them to this gdrive folder!

AND DON’T FORGET…

Please remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news. 

AGM: THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 AT 2 PM

We’ll be meeting in person at the clubhouse. Please plan to attend if you are able. 

You’ll find the executive member reports here. Note that there are some important (and lengthy) appendix hotlinked to the paper rat and ground rat reports. Please take some time to review them also.

If interested, here’s where you can find the minutes of our AGM in 2023.

As Jeff mentioned, all board positions are open to members who are interested in running.

URGENT: VOLUNTEER NEEDED

We need a volunteer (or two) to fix the fence that borders our property with Cherry beach. A large dock floated in and caused some damage. Please reach out to Micheal if you can help.

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Please remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.